noose
Americannoun
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nooses
plural
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a loop with a running knot, as in a snare, lasso, or hangman's halter, that tightens as the rope is pulled.
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a tie or bond; snare.
verb (used with object)
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nooses,
present (3rd person singular)
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noosed,
past participle, past
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noosing
present participle
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to secure by or as by a noose.
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to make a noose with or in (a rope or the like).
noun
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a loop in the end of a rope or cord, such as a lasso, snare, or hangman's halter, usually tied with a slipknot
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something that restrains, binds, or traps
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to bring about one's own downfall
verb
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to secure or catch in or as if in a noose
-
to make a noose of or in
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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noosesimple
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noosessimple
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have noosedperfect
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has noosedperfect
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am noosingprogressive
-
are noosingprogressive
-
is noosingprogressive
-
have been noosingperfect progressive
-
has been noosingperfect progressive
Past
-
noosedsimple
-
had noosedperfect
-
was noosingprogressive
-
were noosingprogressive
-
had been noosingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of noose
1400–50; late Middle English nose < ?
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The reader feels the noose tighten and shares Ms. Chang’s distress as it becomes evident after 2018 that she can no longer visit her home country—or her mother’s deathbed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 14, 2026
If rates keep climbing, the fiscal noose might tighten.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
An investigation found that the rope noose had been in the garage for many months and was not directed at Wallace.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2025
But those who claimed sanctuary and took an oath were safe from the noose, for the time being.
From BBC ● Dec. 25, 2024
They’re the ones who survived the arena and slipped the noose of poverty that strangles the rest of us.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
The Coast Guard had signed off on a policy on November 13 that downgraded the classification of symbols such as swastikas and nooses, according to a report from the Washington Post.
From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2025
He had pointed to the enclaves where one group of human beings was walled off from another group, where the green lines between countries doubled back on themselves and looped into zeros, into nooses.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
In it, singer Yawar Abdal imagines a Kashmir where people, blindfolded and with nooses around their necks, are liberated amid chants of “All shall be free.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 4, 2022
Critics allege the industry has serious safety problems, with dangers posed by nooses, hair dryers and poor handling by groomers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2021
Quiros, Fernandez de, 246 Ra, the sun-god, caught by Maui in nooses, 226 Radiguet, M., 338, 341, 357 n.1,
From The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead Vol. II by Sir James George Frazer
You would see them trundle up and down Spinner's Walk trailing wires and lights, their gaze rolling towards the hospital gates on Clarence Road, their necks noosed by camera straps.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 19, 2014
You would see them trundle up and down Spinner’s Walk trailing wires and lights, their gaze rolling toward the hospital gates on Clarence Road, their necks noosed by camera straps.
From New York Times ● Sep. 19, 2014
The astonished fishermen noosed the two animals, hauled them aboard, took them ashore.
From Time Magazine Archive
I willed them to move, but my conscience noosed around my ankles and pulled down hard.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
He, too, is safely noosed," said he to himself; "he can never procure the money.
From Debit and Credit Translated from the German of Gustav Freytag by Gustav Freytag
Mitchum is snagging coconuts and noosing turtles; Deborah is roasting breadfruit and thatching a sail.
From Time Magazine Archive
Young Marc-Antonio Grilli, the cleverest lad in the parish at noosing any wild animal, is our patron of the feast.
From Imaginary Conversations and Poems A Selection by Walter Savage Landor
These consisted of long thongs of reindeer-skin, and also hempen cords of the manufacture of civilized men, for noosing the reins, and of bowls, kits, &c., to receive the milk.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 3, July, 1851 by Various
They are remarkably heavy sleepers, and are readily captured by the inhabitants ascending the trees on which they roost, and noosing them before they awaken.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 "Columbus" to "Condottiere" by Various
Also he had a horrid habit of noosing moccasins for sport; and it would have been easy for him to introduce one to me while I slept.
From Police!!! by Henry Hutt
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